GRAMMY®-Winning Recording Artist John Legend to Receive Global Impact Award at Recording Academy® Honors Presented by Black Music Collective | around the web

The legend will be celebrated with a performance by Summer Walker, and D-Nice will spin the music throughout the night, with MC Lyte as the voice of the evening, Adam Blackstone as musical director and Jimmy Jam, the Le’s first Black Chair. Recording Academy Board of Trustees and Songwriting Hall of Fame inductee will make remarks. Other special guests will be announced at a later date. The Black Music Collective’s inaugural event takes place at Resorts World Las Vegas on Saturday, April 2, 2022, the night before the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards®.

“We are honored to celebrate John Legend as the first recipient of the Recording Academy Honors Global Impact Award,” said Recording Academy Co-Chair Valeisha Butterfield Jones. “John is one of the most important artists of our time, someone who leads by example and constantly pushes important boundaries in music, philanthropy and activism. His contributions and impact on music and our culture are unprecedented.”

“On behalf of the Black Music Collective, we are honored to bring together some of the most influential creators of our time to celebrate John Legend ahead of Music’s Biggest Night®,” said Riggs Morales, President of the Black Music Collective. “This event is a reflection of our continued work as we strive to celebrate the biggest and brightest in black music who transcend beyond race and gender.”

As a 12-GRAMMY award-winning singer, songwriter, producer and philanthropist, John Legend began his musical career behind the scenes over 20 years ago working with artists including Lauryn Hill, JAY-Z and Alicia Keys. . He then signed with Kanye West’s GOOD Music and released his debut album. Get lifted, which reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 Charts and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. Legend made history as the first black man to win the coveted EGOT (Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar and Tony Award). Throughout his career he has collaborated with a multitude of artists including Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Rick Ross, Raphael Saadiq, Juanes, Sebastián Yatra, Chance the Rapper, Common, André 3000, The Roots, Tony Bennett, Jhené Aiko, Estelle, Esperanza Spalding and Ariana Grande. Not only is he a music maker beloved by his peers, he is also a philanthropist who has performed at numerous benefit concerts to raise awareness of social issues and in 2014 founded the FREEAMERICA campaign, which aims to help to end mass incarceration in the United States. Legend is currently on the Recording Academy Board of Trustees and is Honorary Chairman of the Black Music Collective.

Multi-platinum singer-songwriter Summer Walker will perform at the event. The Atlanta native R&B streaming supernova has released her debut album Above in 2019, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and featured his single “Playing Games.” The album made R&B history for the number of streams in its first week. In November 2021, Summer released her second album always on itwhich debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and broke the record for the album with the most one-week streams ever by a female R&B artist. always on it is the first R&B album by a woman to top Billboard’s 200 albums chart since 2016.

D-Nice will perform throughout the evening. In an incredible journey through the streets of Harlem, touring and recording with Boogie Down Productions to the White House, Derrick “D-Nice” Jones went from being a mainstay in culture history to that of making history himself. The legendary DJ, rapper, producer, photographer and philanthropist has moved millions of wax with timeless records, on stage at unforgettable concerts and online with his groundbreaking Club quarantine Instagram live series. The latter notably created a precedent and built a model for many Instagram Live series to follow during the Pandemic. His influence would be recognized throughout the industry. The NAACP Image Awards named him 2021 Artist of the Year, the BET Awards named him an honorary recipient of the “ shine a light ” Award, and he won the Webby Artist of the Year 2020 award in the category “ Special achievement.

Adam Blackstone is a multi-faceted bassist, musician, GRAMMY-nominated writer and Emmy®-nominated music director. He’s been musical director to actors including Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5 and Eminem, and he recently cultivated the Super Bowl 56 halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg , Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. His expertise as a music director has shaped today’s biggest shows, including the GRAMMY Awards, the Oscars, NBC’s “The Voice,” numerous BET, VH1, and MTV specials, and hit shows. from Fox “The Four” and “The Masked Singer”.

MC Lyte will be the voice of the evening. MC Lyte is an American rapper, DJ and two-time GRAMMY Award nominee for Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Female Rap Solo Performance. She served eight years at the Recording Academy as rap committee chair, Los Angeles chapter president, national trustee and governor, and served on several awards and nominating committees. Following the release of his first album Lyte like a rock in 1988, she became the first solo rapper to release a full studio album. She has since released eight solo albums and founded Hip Hop Sisters, a non-profit organization dedicated to shining a light on the leaders and creators of hip-hop, the entertainment industry and the corporate world.

Jimmy Jam, honorary chairman of the Black Music Collective and the first black president of the Recording Academy, will deliver an address for the evening. He is a five-time GRAMMY-winning R&B/Pop singer, songwriter and producer. He co-wrote monster hits for Janet Jackson, George Michael, Mariah Carey and more with his partner, Terry Lewis.

Sponsored by Binance, IBM, Mastercard, Hilton, GRAY GOOSE Vodka and Amazon Music, this event will bring together the biggest stars and executives of the music industry under one roof for an unforgettable evening.

MVD Inc will produce the Recording Academy Honors Presented By The Black Music Collective GRAMMY Week event. MVD Inc is an innovative boutique creative agency specializing in strategic positioning, immersive experiences and integrated marketing. Founded in 2002, MVD Inc has an impressive list of top clients and Fortune 500 companies in the music, film, fashion and technology industries. It’s in the DNA of sisters Miatta Johnson and Massah David to provide forward-thinking creative direction to brands like Universal Pictures, Netflix, Kanye West and PETROL Magazine.

ABOUT THE BLACK MUSIC COLLECTIVE

The Black Music Collective is a hub for powerful players in black music, across all genres, under the GRAMMY roof, bringing together creative geniuses and business leaders to set unified goals, align on a common agenda and create a community. For more information on the Black Music Collective, go here. For exclusive content, please join the Black Music Collective social communities on Instagram and Facebook.

ABOUT RECORDING ACADEMY

The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring that the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors the history of music while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum ®, champions the rights of creators of music, supports musicians in times of need through MusiCares ®, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards – the only peer-recognized honor in music and the highest achievement. As the world’s leading company of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA NEVADA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MUSIC OTHER PHILANTHROPY EVENTS/CONCERTS PHILANTHROPY ENTERTAINMENT

SOURCE: Recording Academy

Copyright BusinessWire 2022.

PUB: 03/28/2022 12:00/DISC: 03/28/2022 12:01